Swimming glove



June 11, 1935. E. B, BELL 2,004,684

SWIMMING GLOVE Filed Jul 26, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet l nvenior Ea/d &5.(56// i Patented June 11, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE SWIMMINGGLOVE Earl B. Bell, Brooklyn, N. Y. Application July 26, 1933, SerialNo. 682341 1 Claim.

This invention relates to an improved thin flexible rubber form fittingglove of the multiple web type designated to be worn by swimmers andexpressly fashioned to facilitate swimming by the user thereof.

Needless to say I am well aware that a glove of this general style andvariety is not broadly new. In fact I am generally familiar with thestate of the art to which the invention relates and for this very reasonhave evolved and produced a more satisfactory type of swimming glovecharacterized by certain structural refinements and improvementscalculated to benefit the user of this particular improved glove.

For example whereas prior patented gloves of this classification embodyspecial wrist formation equipped with inconvenient fastening devices, Ihave perfected a glove having an endless wrist band conformable to thewrist of the wearer and adapted to fit snugly in place so as to obviatethe necessity of using straps and similar unhandy and substantiallyunusable fastening.

Secondly I have evolved and produced a swimming glove whose palm portionis imperforate and whose back portion is formed with an appreciablylarge opening bounded by a reinforcing bead and adapted to expose theknuckle and adjacent portion of the hand to facilitate unhamperedmanipulation thereof in and out of the water.

A further feature and advantage is predicated upon the adoptionand useof snug fitting seam- `less finger stalls joined together by collapsiblewebs wherein the extreme tips or terminal of said stalls are providedwith holes which serve as vents to facilitate application and removal ofthe glove and also provide means for draining water and sand which mayaccumulate in said finger stalls.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a glove constructed in accordance with theprinciples of the present invention observing the back face thereof.

Figure 2 is a similar plan view showing the web stretched andillustrating the palm side or face of the glove.

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view taken approximately on the plane ofthe line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional view through one of the flngerstalls.

Referring to the glove as a unit it will be observed that it is denotedby the numeral 5. In practice it is made from thin flexible rubberadapted for a skin tight fit on the hand of the V user. As shown inFigure 2 the palm portion 6 is smooth and imperforate. A shown in Figure1 the back or rear face is provided with a substantially rectangularopening 'I whose marginal edge is provided with a reinforcing rollerbead 8. Incidentally this opening 'I is adapted to expose back of thehand and to allow protrusion of the knuckles to facilitatebending of thehand and to otherwise expedite manipula tion while in and out of thewater. The glove may be said to comprise a one-piece hand covering andit is so made as to form an endless wrist band or wristlet 9 providedWith a retention bead u. This obviates the necessity of the' provisionof strap and similar separable fasteners at this particular point andpermits the wristlet to snugly conform and encircle the wrist of theuser. Incidentally prior art devices having special fastening deviceshave been diflicult to handle in putting the gloves on and taking thegloves off as is obvious. Hence the beaded endless expansible andcontractible wrist band 9 affords a more effective and close fittingarrangement calculated to better fulflll the requirements of this aspectof the invention,

The hand covering also embodies a plurality of individual finger stallsdenoted by the numeral I I. Incidentally the term finger' is intended tocomprehend all five of the finger receiving stalls. In other words itappears to be apparently unnecessary to differentiate the "thumb" stalland for convenience all of the parts I l are referred to as stalls.These finger stalls are joined together by' flexible imperforate webs |2the webs being of a fexible variety to permit the finger stalls to bebrought together in close spaced parallelism or spread apart such as isnecessary in making forward and return strokes while swimming.

All of the finger stalls are provided at their terminals or tips withapertures !3. These apertures serve primarily as vents to relieve theair while applying and removing the glove. Without these openings l3 theair would become pocketed making it difficult to slip the gloves on andthere after take the gloves oif. i

It will be evident to those skilled in the art to which the inventionappertains that the improved glove is characterized by three interestingimprovements. First the apertures |3 in the pits of the finger stallsconstitute the salient feature of the invention. These may be reinforcedby beads or not and they not only function as vents to facilltate airrelease while applying and removing the glove but also constituteoutlets in the sense that they may be utilized as drains for removingsand, dirt and water accumulations from the finger stalls. wrist band 9with its reinforcin'g beads o to facilitate its position and retentionis an important feature of distinction. Third the relatively largeopening 'I in the back of the glove in contrast with the imperforatepalm portion 6 and the surrounding reinforcing bead 8 prvides a furtherrefinement calculated to enable the glove to better fulfill therequirement' of a commodity of this type.

A careful consideration of the foregoing description in conjunction withthe illustrative drawings will enable the reader to obtain a clearunderstanding of the purpose, features and advantages, the explicitConstruction, and the invention as hereinafter claimed.

It is to be understood that minor changes in shape, size, relativeproportions, and materials may be resorted to in practice: withoutdeparting froni the spirit oi: the invention or the scope of theinvention as now claimed.

.Having thus described my invention, what I claim. as new is:

Scondly' the endless elastic A swimming glove of the class describedcomprising a body part, finger and thumb stalls and' webs -comiectingthe stalls together, said glove being of one-piece Construction andformed of thin rubber the stalls having openings in their ends and thatpart of the glove which covers the back of the hand having a singlesubstantially rectangular-shaped opening therein, the side walls ofwhich are spaced inwardly from the side edges of the g1ove,`the frontwall being spaced inwardly from the inner ends of the finger stalls, andthe rear wall of which is spaced an appreciable 'distance from the rearend of the glove, that part of the glove between the rear wall of theopening and the rear end of the glove forming with the rest of the rearportion of the glove an endless wrist engaging portion, said wristengaging portion being of short length and of a width but slightly lessthan the width of. the rest of the glove, the 'finger openings, therectangular opening and the rear end of the glove all being formed withmarginal reinforcing beads.

- EARL B. BELL.

